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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27181153">Showdown</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nervouspunkboy/pseuds/nervouspunkboy'>nervouspunkboy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Arthur Morgan takes a break, Chapter 2: Horseshoe Overlook (Red Dead Redemption 2), Cowboytober 2020, Drabble, Gen, Light-Hearted, Pearson is a sore loser, Poker, Short One Shot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:46:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>741</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27181153</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nervouspunkboy/pseuds/nervouspunkboy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kenneth stares at him then, expression blank. And for a man who wore his emotions on his sleeve, Arthur was hard pressed to know what the hell he was thinking. He was impressed, if maybe a little frightened, that Kenneth had the ability to be this guarded. Though maybe he just truly didn’t know what he was doing.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Showdown</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Cowboytober 2020 Day Five: Showdown</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was late afternoon in May and Arthur was taking a short break from running all over New Hanover to play poker. Uncle had bust out long ago which left Pearson, Kenneth, and himself to play. Kenneth had only played with him and Lenny so far. The others a little too irritating for someone as inexperienced as Kenneth to play with. And John, well, Kenneth and John would’ve ended in a fist fight. He seemed to be handling Pearson’s needling well though so far. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kenneth tapped his fingers on the table, lifting just the corner of his cards to stare at them for the third time. Pearson let out an irritated huff. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Today would be nice.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kenneth didn’t say anything in return, instead put his cards back down and fiddled with his chips, he counted twice and then tossed them into the middle. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I raise you,” he said, audibly trying to hide a smile. Smug probably from the look of surprise on Pearson’s face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Someone’s feeling brave hm?” Pearson taunted, raising it again. Only by a few cents but still, a raise.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kenneth, again, unphased really. He peeked at his cards, chewing on his lip. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Arthur was desperate to know what cards he had, what kind of hand he could possibly deal right now. Not that he was extremely confident in Pearson’s hand, he would go all in with nothing just to scare folks. It would be a pleasure to see him lose to the man who just learned how to play poker last week. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can always fold,” Pearson said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kenneth stares at him then, expression blank. And for a man who wore his emotions on his sleeve, Arthur was hard pressed to know what the hell he was thinking. He was impressed, if frightened, that Kenneth had the ability to be this guarded. Though maybe he just truly didn’t know what he was doing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Raise you,” Kenneth threw in more chips, and he was slowly running out beside him. Anymore and he might as well go all in. Arthur was impressed but part of him still doubted Kenneth had the cards.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Arthur had folded instantly, nothing but a two and seven in his hand. Ain't even the same suit. Sure, he might’ve had a pair of sevens with the one on the table but he didn’t feel like putting up with Pearson’s taunting. He wasn’t going to lose his few dollars to that man. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kenneth stared Pearson down, watching him for his reaction to him not backing down, but instead challenging him even further. Pearson, ever stubborn and proud in poker, raised Kenneth’s bet. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Arthur could have sworn he saw a twitch of Kenneth’s lips, up into a smile. But maybe he was mistaking it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“All in,” Kenneth said, not even bothering to look at his cards this time. Pearson simply huffed and pushed in the chips to match, still having what Arthur assumed to be about 75 cents left. The pot was now around $5 and on the table was a 5, 7, 10, and two Aces. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Feast your eyes on this,” Pearson grinned wide as he laid down his cards, a King and another Ace. Arthur whistled low, three of a kind was a hell of a hand. Kenneth made an uncertain face, Arthur might even dare to call it defeated and he almost felt bad until Kenneth flipped his cards. A seven and the fourth ace. Full house, aces over sevens. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Arthur smacked the table at the same time as Pearson and laughed. Kenneth’s uncertainty slipped away and he looked as proud as ever, knowing exactly how well he played them all. So he </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> have a poker face after all. Kenneth stood and swiped up the chips worth five dollars as Pearson swore, glaring the young man down. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Was a good hand! Really, I mean, had every right to be confident but uh,” Kenneth stacked his chips next to him, “best not to underestimate me.” He rested his chin on his hand and grinned slyly. The little shit. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pearson grumbled, “I need to get back to my stall.” With that, he stood and walked the few feet back to his work station. Dinner needed to be prepared but that was a flimsy excuse at best. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Arthur looked to see Kenneth gathering up all the cards and looking at him with those big brown eyes, grinning away. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ready for me to take all your money too?” </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A happier time with Kenneth in this one! He learned how to play poker and immediately learned he could fool people by playing the idiot. </p>
<p>If you want to get to know him more, you can find me yelling about him on tumblr @ little-bi-kingtrashmouth and twitter @ nervouspunkboy</p></blockquote></div></div>
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